Nippon Oil Wins New Zealand Contract to Supply Oil for Reserves

By Megumi Yamanaka

Dec. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Nippon Oil Corp., Japan's biggest refiner, won a contract for a second consecutive year to supply crude oil to New Zealand from the company's stockpiles in the event of an emergency.

The Tokyo-based company won the right to supply 72,000 metric tons of Oman crude in 2009 to the New Zealand government, Nippon Oil said in a statement today. The contract is to help the country meet a requirement by the International Energy Agency to store fuels equivalent to 90 days of consumption to prepare for supply disruptions.

Last year, the government selected Nippon Oil, BP Plc and Total SA for the 2008 contracts.

To contact the reporter on this story: Megumi Yamanaka in Tokyo at myamanaka@bloomberg.net.